Fuel converter for internal-combustion engines



L. W. G. FLYNT.

run CONVERTER ron INTERNAL comsusnom ENGINES. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 15, 1920- 1,405,]. 96.

Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

Surreal Lou/s 1 705152 Y/YZ' Ase-nu UTNITED STATES PATENT ossicn.

ZLQUIS W. G. FLYNT, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

F UEL CONVERTER FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

1 0 at"! 'w-iomit may concern:

Be it known that I, Louis W. G. Fm'n'r, a subject of the King of England, residing at- Newsrk, in the county of Essex and State of N ew Jerse have invented certain new and useful .mprovements in Fuel Conerters for Internal-Combustion Engines; and 1 do hereby declare the following to he a full. clear and exact description of the invention. such as will enable others, skilled in the or! to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the art of e aporating liquids and mixing the vapor with a gas. It particularly relates'to the evaporation of a liquid hydrocarbon and mingling it with a suitable. proportion of air or oxygen for purposes of combustion. and is especially designed for the ofiicicut carburution of air to form charges for internal corn bustion engines.

one of the objects of my invention to reduce the viscosity of a. liquid hydrocarbon fuel when and at the point where it is lu'ought in contact with a current of air or other supporter of combustion in order that the said current may pulverize the lir uid into :1 fi'tcr spray whereby a, greater SU'I'fllCQ may be exposed for evaporation and u-bsor i-tion as vapor in 'theair.

A further object is to adapt :1 standard type of carburetor to serve as an instrument, for the practice of this invention.

The device may be described as a fuel converter inasmuch as it functions in such manner as to increase the fluidity of a, liquid fuel.

The invention consists in a means for con centriiting heat upon a small volume of gasoline or other liquid fuel just before and at the time when it is brought in contact with :1 current of air in order to form therewith u combustible mixture. Althou h the principle of this invention is suscepti le of application in a. wide variety of instrumeu tulitics. l have described and illustrated it as embodied in a standard type of carburetor for use in c nnection with intern-ii combus- Liou engines.

Figure l of the drawing is a vertical section through a carburetor embodying hid inw-ntirn. 'nd l igure 2 is "n enlargr n section on ti lire of iii '11 'l.

gncd. for

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jim. 31, 1922.

15, 1920. Serial No. 410,423.

use in a motor vehicle is indicated at l and the intake manifold at: 2. Coupled to said intake manifold is a carburetor designated generally by the letter C. The member 3 contains the air conduit. or mixing chamber 4 of said carburetor, controlled by it choker valve 4 and a throttle valve 4, and said member is coupled to the intake manifold at 5 in a customary manner. The carburetor illustrated is of the type in which the air conluit constitutes a Uslmped trap, from the lowest point of which there depends a stem or extension 6, in which is a duct 7, controlled by a, needle valve 8, fuel flowing through said duct into the depression 9 within the air conduit whence it is taken up by the current of air flowing therethrou h to the manifold 2. A bowl or cup-like body 10 constitutes the usual constant level fuel reservoir. The stem 6 has an annular shoulder 11, and a lower threaded ehd 12. The bottom of the cup 10 is perforated to receive the threaded end 12., and a specially formed nut 13 is screwed on said threaded. end, clamping the on l0 against the shoulder 11 and the mem or 3 containing the air conduit and mixin chamber 4 in such manner as to form fluid tightjoints. Th usual flout 14 controls the fuel inlet valve, which admits iuel to the reservoir.

In carburetors of the type shown it is customary to provide an overflow port or duct 15 in order to prevent accumulation of an exessive amount of fuel at the lowest portion 9 of the trap-like conduit 4, this accumula= tion of fuel resulting from the suction of the en ine when starting with the air choke vs vs 4 closed, or partially closed, as is customary.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated I have substituted for the usual nut which secures the cup 10 in place, the saig special nut 13. Said nut 13 has :1 threads counterbore 16 engaging the threaded end 12. of the depending member 6, and a smaller bore 16 communicating with the center of the count-erbore. 'hen the special nut 13 is in place, there is n chamber 17 between the end of the threaded portion 12 and the lower inner surface of the counterbore 16 in the nut. Radiating from this chamber 17 are a plurality of lateral ducts 13. Assuming that nut 13 i oi hexag nal form. there are preferably 51:; of those rad ating ducts.

Connected with the bore 16 of the nut 13 is a small tube 19, the other end of which is 'tagied into the exhaust manifold 1 at 20.

means of the construction illustrated and described it will be apparent that when the engine is in operation asmall portion of the hot exhaust gees will be by-passed from the exhaust manifold throu h the tube 19 some of which will pass up t rough the duct 15 into the air conduit or mixing chamber 4 immediately adjacent the needle-valve-oontrolled fuel inlet. As the hot gas duct 15 lies closely ad'acent to the fuel duct 7, the hot gases on t eir upward passage through duct 15 will heat the fuel, in said duct 7. A larger part of the gas flowing in tube 19 will escape through radial passages 18 in the couplm member 13. As the area of the hole through which the hot gas enters the air conduit is small and the distance from the exhaust manifold is relatively great, it is desirable to provide said escape orifices 18 through the nut or coupling member 13 in order that a high temperature may be maintained in the wall surrounding the fuel conduit 7. The radial passages 18 permit free flow of a relatively large volume of hot gas, provide additional surface for absor tion of heat by the member 6 within which the fuelduct 7 is formed an efl'ective means of mufllingethe sound of the gas escaping fro the tu 20 and utilizin its heat without-injecting any considerabe volume of burnt gas into the mixing chamber.

It is essential to the eflicient operation of an internal combustion motor that the oil or gasoline entering the cylinders mixed with air shall be in vapor form; that the charge shall be free from dro s of liquid fueloil suspended in the air and vapor; liquid gasoline does not burn; in order to be burned it must be vaporized and mixed with air or oxygen 'It is therefore important in forming charges for internal combustion engines to completely vaporize the fuel oil that enters the cy iuders. V

Rapidity of evaporation of a liquid under uniform temperatuse depends upon the area of exposed surface. The exposed surface of a volume of liquid is increased by'subdividing it. For example, a cubic inch of gasoline would expose six square inches of surface, and if said cubic inch were broken 11 into cubes of one thousandth of an inch each, there would be one thousand million of them and they would expose a surface of six thousand square inches. Under the same conditions the speed of evaporation of the cubic inch broken into cubes of one thousandth of an inch would be one thousand times faster than the speed of evaporation of the solid cubic inch.

The theor of operation of the pulvcrizing carburetor is that the air current drawn through the air conduit meets the stream of gasoline entering, commonly transversely of said current, and breaks the gasoline into small globules, the size of which depends mainly on the viscosity of the gasoline, in order that as large a surface as POSSIblG shall be exposed to the air, and that the air may absorb the gasoline and carry it into the chamber, as such a condition would tend to cause losses through premature evaporation. In the construction shown some heat is radiated and conducted to the contents of the float-controlled reservoir from the center outward but the strong air current from the fan, which is customarily found in the frontoi internal combustion engines on motor vehicles, will minimize losses from evaporation in the reservoir. It is a matter of common knowledge that carburetors have been dcsi need in which reservoir bowls or cups provided with jackets through which hot water or hot gases are circulated so as to heat a considerable volume of gasoline before it is (minim; a. Jim- 'lischargcd into the air current. it also comn'ion knowledge that the current of exterior air drawn in to be saturated with the vapor and serve as a supporter of combustion is heated from outside sources, as from a stove taking heat from the exterior of the exhaust pl or manifold. In the device herein described it is intended to concentrate heat in a small volume of fuel immediate] Y before discharge into the air stream in or er that the viscosity may be reduced tothe lowest point, namely that which obtains just before the boiling point is reached. It is the intention to avoid as much as possible heating the gasoline .or other fuel in the bowl or maintained resenvoir of Ii uid fuel.

The cai lmretor illustrated is of a type commonly supplied as a portion of the equipment of the Ford motor and may be either of the carburetors marketed as Holley or Kingston carburetors.

Having described my invention in a man nor to enable those skilled in the art to which it eppertains to make and use the same, hat I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device f the class described, a member an air conduit and adjacent independent 1' l and hot {5 ducts o n ing by separate ports int-o sa 1! air con uit; and Inca: whereby said ducts, may be placed in cmnnzuuication with the source of. fuel Ill and hot gas, respectively, having a port adapted to of said member.

2. In a device of the class described. a member having an. air conduit comprising a U-shaped trap, there being a fuel duct discharging into the depressed portion of said trap, and a duct adjacent to said fuel duct opening into said depressed portion, and means for connecting the outer cud of said last mentioned duct with a source of hot 3. In a device of the class described, a member having an air conduit comprising a. depressed portion, there being a fuel inlet duct discharging into said depressed portion. and a duct adjacent to said fuel duct opening into said depressed portion, means to connect the outer and of said last mentioned duct with a source of hot gas, said last mentioned duct also communicating laterally with the external air.

4. A carburetor of the class described comprising a mixing chamber and a fuel reservoir, a stem passing through said reservoir, said stem having a fuel duct communicating With the reservoir and mixing chamber, and a duct extending through said stem adjacent to said fuel duct, a tube connecting, said last mentioned duct with a source of hot gas, there being a lateral passage connecting said duct With the outer air external of said res-- el'voir.

5. In a device of the class iilescribed, a carburetor comprising a member including a said hot gas duct discharge outside U-shaped air conduit communicating with the intake manifold of an engine, a stem depending from the lowest portion of said air conduit. said stein having a threaded lower end. a bowl surroumling said depending stem, said stem having a fuel duct one end of which communicates with the interior of said bowl and the other end with the lowest portion of said air conduit, there being also a duct extending longitudinally through said depending stem adjacent to said fuel. duct. :1 countcrhored coupling nut secured on the threaded end of said depending niem bcr securing said bowl in place, said coupling nut having ducts radiating from the, countcrl'iorc. and a tube connecting the bore of said nut with the exhaust manifold of an engine.

6. A coupling member having a chamber formed in one side, passages radiating from said chamber and an axial orifice extending from the bottom of said chamber through the opposite side.

7. A carburetor attachmcnt comprising a coupling member having a bore and counterbore and passages radiating from the counterbore.

8. A carburetor attachn'icnt comprising a threaded out having passages radiating from a threaded opening therein, said nut having an axial oriiice communicating with said threaded opening.

in testimony whet-cot l afiix my signature.

LOUIS W. (i. FLYNT. 

